The Republic of Turkey has existed for one hundred years. The co-chairs of HEDEP (Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party), Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, called for the democratisation of the country.

The statement issued by HEDEP co-chairs on the anniversary of the founding of the Republic said: "At the beginning of the second century, the reconstruction of a democratic republic is before us as a historical task. The most important and fundamental deficit of the first century was the lack of a democratic character. Differences in culture, belief and identity could not be lived freely and respectfully on the basis of equal civil rights, and the monist mentality was predominant. For this reason, the Kurdish question could also not be solved by democratic and peaceful means.”

The statement pointed out that: “Building a democratic republic is the key to the emergence of free citizens and a democratic nation. The problems of peoples and faiths, especially the Kurdish question, can be solved through a democratic republic. A democratic republic of Turkey can help solve the historical problems in the region by enabling the Kurds, Turks, Arabs, Armenians, Jews, Persians, Syriacs and all other peoples of the Middle East to live in peace. We must learn a lesson from the first hundred years. Without wasting another hundred years, let us build together a democratic republic that enables all peoples and faiths, the oppressed and the exploited, to live as equal and respected citizens in a democratic environment."